A New Friend, A New Brother
by insane-shadowblade85
Summary: Ed trusts very few people and none of them belong to the military but can Roy send in someone who can change that? A friend of Roy is sent in from Southern H.Q. to help him out. What he's from Xing?
1. Chapter 1

A New Friend, A New Brother

Summary: Ed trusts very few people and none of them belong to the military but can Roy send in someone who could change that? An old friend of Roy is sent in from Southern H.Q. in order to help him out. What, he's from Xing?

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of it's characters. The only things I own are my character and the television that the show comes on.

"…" talking

'…' thoughts

A/n: If you've been reading stories at for a while then you should already know that by now.

Chapter 1: Introductions

It was a dark and stormy night…well, it wasn't dark or stormy…and it wasn't exactly night but that's besides the point. Darting through the streets a young boy with blond hair tied into a braid was frowning at everything that got too close to him. Wearing black pants, a black long sleeved shirt and a long red overcoat anyone who belonged to the military or heard the stories easily recognized him as "The Fullmetal Alchemist" Edward Elric .

"Stupid trees…stupid birds singing their stupid songs…stupid sun shining it's stupid rays on the stupid flowers…," he muttered darkly to himself.

"Brother, he probably just wants to talk to us, there's no need to be angry," a high pitched voice called out.

The voice was emanating from a large body of armor but if you were to look inside the armor you'd find no body, this body less suit of armor was none other than Alphonse Elric, younger brother of Edward Elric.

"No he doesn't Al! All he wants to do is make my life a living hell and you know it!" he screamed back.

Three minutes later they arrived at the gates of Eastern Headquarters but Ed was still hesitating to go in.

"Let's just go in and see what he wants, okay brother?", Al asked him trying to get his older brother, by 1 year, to calm down.

"I know exactly what's going to happen Al, as soon as I walk in he'll start with the short jokes and then he'll start acting all high and mighty like he has the authority to push me around!" Ed then began to imitate Mustang's walk and the way he talks while earning odd looks by people who were passing by.

"Oh hello Fullmetal, I'm surprised you were able to reach the doorknob to get in, Oh Fullmetal I'm glad you've arrived please take a seat…or do we have to supply you with a high chair, Fullmetal Pipsqueak how've you been…and how's the weather down there. Then, he'll laugh that accursed laugh, thinking about it just makes me want to shove my foot so far up his ass he'll taste the dog crap I stepped on this morning!"

Al sweat dropped at the scene he was making, "Uh brother, you shouldn't talk about the colonel like that and he does have the authority to push you around."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Ed mumbled as he entered through the gates.

"Hello Mr. Elric sir"

"Good afternoon Fullmetal sir"

"Mr. Elric sir, good afternoon," as he soon as he passed through the gates and entered the building every military official he saw saluted and greeted him. All he gave them was a nod in their direction and continued his long walk to colonel Mustang's office.

"You know, every time we come here everyone salutes to you even though you really don't have a rank in the military" Al said making small talk with Ed.

"What do you mean I don't have a rank in the military? I'm a Major, did you forget or something?" Ed said amused at his brother's statement.

"Well kind of…," an embarrassed Al replied back.

Ed smiled at his younger brother before explaining, "Well Al, I'm a state alchemist and state alchemists are considered higher in rank than regular soldiers so when a person becomes a state alchemist their given the rank of Major. I guess they do this because state alchemist are a lot more useful than regular soldiers on the battle field. I can't believe after all these years you didn't know."

"I knew, I just forgot that's all. But I guess that explains why First Lieutenant Hawkeye always salutes you when she sees you…," Al said to himself.

"Yeah but since she's a First Lieutenant I have to salute back, you know, out of respect. But I have to show that bastard Mustang respect as well so that's the bad thing about it," Ed was fuming once again at the thought.

"Boys, how nice to see you again," a deep masculine voice called out.

'Hm?' Ed questioned in his head.

"Major Armstrong?" Ed turned around and saw "The Strong Arm alchemist" Alex Louis Armstrong "I thought you were in Central," Al said to him.

"Yes I was, but Colonel Mustang had me transferred here to his group. He told me that someone else was coming so I should be here to greet him as a fellow member of his group," Armstrong told them as the three of them made their way to Mustang's office.

"So this person that's coming, who is he and what's so special about this person that we have to come here all at once?" Ed grumbled out finding the reason that he was called here was to greet someone who he didn't know.

"I'm not sure but if Mustang's calling us here then he must be important…but he did say that I'll be pleasantly surprised," Armstrong said the last part more to himself than to Ed and Al.

As they were walking Ed overheard a conversation that a group of soldiers were having in the hall.

"Hey, you heard who's here?"

"Yeah, who would've thought that he'd be here"

"Tell me about it, the guy's famous in the South, I heard that the people there have named him The Southern Guardian"

Ed stopped dead in his tracks and approached them. Al and Armstrong stopped as well and watched as Ed confronted the soldiers.

"Hey, you five," he addressed them, "who're you talking about? Is it about the person I'm supposed to meet?"

The five soldiers saluted him and told him they were not allowed to speak of it.

"Well then how do you that this guy is here?", Ed inquired further.

"We escorted him back to Eastern Headquarters sir," one of the soldiers answered.

Armstrong then stepped forward and addressed the men, "Listen up you five, as Major I demand to know who's here."

"Forgive us sir but we have orders from Colonel Mustang to keep it to ourselves… um, even though Jack here wasn't one of the escorts."

Armstrong sighed since he couldn't get the information he wanted but asked another question instead, "Alright then how about this, the man you were talking about, did you say that people in the South call him The Southern Guardian?"

"Yes sir we did," answered one of the soldiers.

Armstrong's eyes widened slightly but went back to normal so quick that no one noticed.

'Could it be him? After all these years…' he thought to himself.

"Um Armstrong sir….a-are you okay?", Al looked concerned for The Strong Arm Alchemist when he went silent as if he was in a trance.

"Hm? Uh yes I'm fine, but we should hurry to Mustang's office," Armstrong said in a rush and resumed his walk towards said office.

"That was weird, is it me or is Armstrong walking a lot faster than usual?" Ed was now confused by his behavior.

"Yeah, but what could've gotten him like this? It must have something to do with that guy who's here, right brother?"

"Come on Al, the only way to find out is to get to Mustang's office," and with that they ran to catch up with Armstrong's quick pace.

As they neared their destination they heard laughing and the sound of a voice complaining.

"Aw come on Roy stop! Your messing up my hair," the voice was followed by more laughs until another voice stopped all the laughter.

"Colonel sir, with all due respect, please stop acting like a child and let him go," the voice belonged to First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye.

"Hm….Nope!" the voice that replied belonged to Roy Mustang.

The laughter resumed and then the voice was heard again, "Damn it Roy stop, listen to Riza and let go!"

'Sounds like their having fun,' Ed thought to himself and reached for the doorknob.

When he opened the door he saw Havoc, Fuery, Breda, and Falman laughing while Riza sighed in frustration. In the front of the room Roy Mustang had someone in a headlock and was rubbing his head that caused most of his black hair to come out of his low ponytail.

To the surprise of Ed and Al, Roy had a genuine smile on his face and not the arrogant smirk he always wore.

"Oh you guys suck!" the man spoke, "I'm ranked above all of you and still you do nothing to help me!"

Riza spoke up, "I tried."

"You're right Riza you did try but everybody else is a major ass! You hear that, all of you have been promoted to majors because you're all major asses!" he spoke again.

Ed noticed that he looked Xingian but he couldn't get a clear look at him.

"Oh what's wrong Sousuke, you need help to beat your older brother?" Roy said teasingly.

Ed's eyes widened, 'Older brother?', but they quickly went back to normal after the man "Sousuke" replied.

"**_Self proclaimed _**older brother you lit match alchemist, 'Oh look at me, I wear ignitable gloves with an alchemic array on it so the only thing I have to do is snap my fingers like a sissy, fear me!'" everyone laughed, including Riza, when they heard the name and description he gave of Roy. Roy's right eyebrow twitched and then he began to rub Sousuke's head harder until Ed cleared his throat.

Everyone looked over to the door and saw Ed, Al and Armstrong standing there. Taking advantage of the situation Sousuke freed himself from Roy's headlock and trapped him in one of his own. He then began to mess up Roy's hair just as he did to him.

Armstrong was the first to speak up, "Sousuke!"

Sousuke looked over and smiled brightly at Armstrong, "Oh man, Alex!"

Armstrong ran over and proceeded to put Sousuke in a headlock and rub his hair like Roy did earlier.

"Hey man cut it out," he chuckled, "Now you're doing it?"

Armstrong let him go as Ed and Al walked into the room, "Ah Ed, Al I'd like you to meet Sousuke Nakajima. Sousuke, I'd like you to meet Alphonse Elric and Edward Elric "The Fullmetal Alchemist," Roy introduced them to each other.

"Ahem" Sousuke looked at Roy with an annoyed expression.

"Sorry, what I meant to say was I'd like you to meet **_Lieutenant Colonel _**Sousuke Nakajima."

Sousuke smiled, walked up to Al and shook his hand, "It's a pleasure to finally meet "The Fullmetal Alchemist" Edward Elric, I've heard many stories about you from Roy. Boy when they named you Fullmetal they weren't kidding huh?"

Al sweat dropped, "I'm Alphonse, he's Edward 'The Fullmetal Alchemist'," Al pointed to Ed who had a dark look on his face.

Sousuke looked over at Ed and then back to Roy with confusion written on his face.

"He's right Sousuke, the other one is Edward Elric," Roy explained to him.

Roy smirked when he saw the look on his face and everyone knew what was going to happen next. 'Oh man, here it comes.' he thought with a laugh.

There was a brief moment of silence as Sousuke looked over at Ed again and then spoke up, "You mean Midget McMunchkin is the Fullmetal Alchemist?" Everyone began to snicker but stopped when Ed lost it.

"Who are calling an ultra hyper midget that's so small he could hitch a ride on a rat!" Al jumped in and restrained his brother from doing something he might regret.

"Brother calm down! He's a Lieutenant Colonel, you can't do anything to him!"

"So what if he's a Lieutenant Colonel, I don't care if he's the Fuhrer himself, NOBODY CALLS ME SHORT!", Ed was now struggling to reach Sousuke with all of his strength but he couldn't get Al to release him.

Sousuke was backing away and hid behind Mustang while keeping a close eye on Ed. Once he was behind Roy he spoke up, "I didn't say all that….hey Roy, does this kid have bipolar disorder or something?"

"I'm not sure, but sometimes I wonder…..," by now Ed calmed down and Al had finally let go of him.

"Ed please have a seat, there's another reason why I called you here," Roy told him.

When Ed sat down on the couch Roy smirked, and then everything went silent. After a couple of seconds passed by Roy looked directly at Ed, everybody stared at him waiting for what was to come next, they didn't have to wait long though.

"Are you comfortable Ed….or do you need to sit on a phone book to see over the table, little man," Roy laughed and hung on to a snickering Sousuke to keep his balance.

"THAT'S IT!", Ed leapt up but was once again restrained by Al.

"Let me go Al, let me go!"

"No brother, just calm down"

"Let me go, I just want to punch him in the face just once, just once!", Ed then transformed his automail arm into an arm blade and continued to struggle against Al.

'Transmutation without an array' "So this is the Fullmetal Alchemist," Sousuke said in awe.

"Ed, calm down so I can explain why I called you here," Roy's tone was now serious which caused Ed to stop yelling and struggling. Ed sat down on the couch once again and paid attention to what Roy had to say.

"Ed," Roy began, "Your getting a partner to help you with your missions."

Ed looked at Roy but he didn't say anything allowing him to continue, "I'm assigning a partner to you so your searches for the philosopher's stone will go more smoothly……and someone who can keep an eye on you so you won't cause too much property damage."

"So who's going to be my partner, that guy?" Ed pointed to Sousuke, "Because regular soldiers can't really help me."

"He's not a regular soldier, look closely," Roy instructed him.

Ed looked closely at him and his features. He was 5'11, he had shoulder length black hair tied into a low ponytail, a standard military uniform, slightly slanted eyes, 'Must be from Xing,' he thought, a Lieutenant colonel military badge, a sword on his waist, and….a silver chain, a silver chain that must belong to a silver pocket watch that only state alchemists carry around.

'Is he a state alchemist?' Ed continued to stare at him, "So you're a state alchemist too huh? What's your state name?"

"The Liquid Sword Alchemist," Sousuke replied.

"Liquid Sword Alchemist?" Ed questioned.

"You see Ed, he combines water alchemy with the metal from his sword. He could liquefy the metal of his sword with water alchemy allowing his sword to hit targets long distances and move in ways a regular sword can't, this make's his alchemy and his form of fighting very dangerous for others as well as himself," Roy explained.

"Well, as long as he doesn't slow me down," Ed looked back at Roy, "but before I do anything I have to go back to Resembool and see my mechanic. My arm's messing up again."

"Who's your mechanic?" Sousuke asked him.

"Not that it's any of your business, but her name's Winry, Winry Rockbell."

When he heard the name 'Rockbell' his eyes widened slightly and shot a look to Roy, Roy saw the look Sousuke gave him and looked away towards the wall. Ed ignored all of this and headed towards the door.

"Ed," Roy called out to Ed before he could leave, "You can't leave for Resembool for at least three days."

"Why not?" Ed looked at Roy defiantly.

"Because Ed, the train that goes to Resembool derailed a day ago. The situation is being dealt with as we speak and the train is scheduled to run again in about three days."

Ed turned toward the door and was about to leave when he spoke, "Fine, if anybody needs me I'll be in the library," and with that he left. Al left with his brother and Roy went back to his desk with Sousuke following close behind him.

Ten seconds passed in silence until Sousuke broke it, "Roy," he began, "his mechanic….Rockbell, those were the people-"

"-I know," Mustang interrupted, "I know."

More silence, "**_You_** know, **_I_** know, but does **_he_** know," Roy stared out of the window before answering, "…No."

By now Sousuke was rubbing his forehead as if he were rubbing away an incoming headache.

"Damn it Roy, is that the reason you're assigning me to be the kids partner, to clean up your mess? We're close man but I don't think I can handle that," Sousuke looked at him but when he didn't receive an answer he decided to leave but was stopped before he could turn around.

"I'm not asking you to clean up my mess for me." After hearing this Sousuke gave him his full attention, "Ed doesn't consider anyone in the military as an enemy but he doesn't really consider anyone a friend either. He may go off on people but he's a good kid and I believe that he needs a good friend around here, you know, someone who went through a similar situation with the military."

"Similar situation? What the hell Roy, I don't even know the kid's situation so how could it be similar to what I had to go through!"

"He's only fifteen Sousuke and he joined the military as a state alchemist when he was twelve." Mustang turned to face him and smiled, "Weren't you considered the youngest state alchemist around here six years ago?"

Realization dawned upon him, "Yeah…I was." He smiled back, "I guess my situation was similar to what he's going through, I'll do my best."

"Good, I expect good things from you. I don't want him to isolate himself from everyone around here, it's not mentally healthy for him. All he does is read books on alchemy, go on missions and fight battles, if he keeps it up he could end up like-"

"-Kimblee," Sousuke shivered at the thought, "even now the guy still gives me the creeps, he's still locked up right?"

"Yes, and he'll stay locked up for his entire life with no chance of parole," Mustang quickly sat down, picked up a form from his pile of paperwork and pretended to be hard at work.

Sousuke knew Roy hated paperwork and stared at him in confusion until the answer to his unspoken question walked by, Riza Hawkeye.

He chuckled at the sight, 'Just like a married couple.' "I guess I'll head to the library and find Ed," he saluted, Roy gave a nod in return and then he left the room heading for the library in search of his new partner.

A/n: well there you have it, that was chapter 1. What did you think, was it good, bad or right down the middle? This here is my very first fic so some feedback would be nice but if it's flames…um, could it be a nice flame? Actually no flames please, I DON' WANT TO BURN! R&R please, I beg of you!


	2. Library conversations

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or the characters that are in the show. If I did I'd blow all the money I'd make on anime, manga and device that would bring anime characters to life.

Chapter 2: Library conversations

'The nerve of that guy assigning me a partner, just who the hell does he think he is?'

From the moment Ed woke up the day kept getting worse and his mood just kept getting darker and darker. He didn't know which god he angered and what he did to piss them off but whatever the hell he did he sure is getting the full force of their wrath. Thinking to himself he wondered what else could go wrong but quickly shook the thought out of his head, 'If I ask that question then I might just get an answer.'

He gave a grim smile as different scenarios began to play in his mind, some more frustrating than the last. But the more he thought about it the sooner he realized that it just wasn't his day that was frustrating, but it was his entire week.

'That's right, ' he gritted his teeth, 'my entire week sucked. First, the town Mustang told me the philosopher's stone was said to be at was a total waste of time, just some imitation stone that came with it's very own lunatic. Next, was my long and uncomfortable train ride back to the east where I had to sit behind a couple with a crying baby that just wouldn't shut up which resulted in hours of lost sleep. Then, that homicidal maniac Envy popped out of nowhere, attacked me and Al on our way to our hotel room and caused some damage to my automail arm. And Finally, to top it all off, I get a partner assigned to me who joined in on making fun of me with that bastard Mustang.'

At this point Ed was literally fuming and stomping down the hall while trying to control his anger but all attempts to keep his anger in check went to waste when he collided with something. The collision caused him to loose his balance and fall flat on his rear. He looked up from where he was on the floor to see who or what he collided into and saw a soldier looking down at him with an apologetic look on his face.

"Grr…..Watch where you're going you idiot! " Ed yelled at the soldier.

The soldier replied back, "I'm sorry Mr. Elric sir, I guess I didn't see you down there while I was walking…" , the soldier paused in the middle of his apology and covered his mouth with his hands.

'Oh man I did it now, he's going to kill me, ' the soldier thought aware of his slip up and had fear written all over his face.

Ed had a blank look on his face as he lifted himself off of the ground in a slow fashion, he began swaying side to side while staying in the same spot making him look like a zombie in a horror film but kept his head lowered towards the ground.

"Down there…. Are you calling me short…? " , Ed asked in a low almost creepy whisper.

The soldier yelped and took a step back before replying, "N-N-No sir! I was just saying that I usually don't have to look down to see someone-I mean, not that you're short or anything…you're just not tall-I mean, " Ed's right hand twitched at that.

Ed began to slowly advance toward the frightened soldier and the soldier (who's not important enough to have a name) began, to once again, back up but all of this ended when Al got behind Ed and restrained him before he could blow up and do bodily harm towards the man.

"Run!" , Al screamed to the soldier who ran with all of the speed he could muster, without hesitation, in the direction he was originally heading.

By now Ed was breathing loudly in an attempt to keep his temper in check.

"That's it brother breath in deep, let your anger fade" Al said in a soothing way trying to get his brother to calm down.

After a minute went by Ed had finally calmed down which allowed Al to safely release him.

Before Ed could find another reason to get angry Al decided to bring up something else for him to think about , "Brother, aren't we heading towards the library? "

"Yeah, let's go Al" , Ed resumed his walk to the library followed by Al who was glad that his brother had calmed down and went back to normal.

"What were you thinking about anyway? From the way you were grinding your teeth together it must've really upset you."

"I was just thinking about our crappy week, that's all" ,Ed answered his brother

* * *

They arrived in front of the library shortly after the little 'incident' in the hall and made a move to open the door. Two months ago, Mustang gave Al written permission to enter the library that was located in Eastern H.Q. ,even though he wasn't a state alchemist ,so he could assist his brother research the philosopher's stone.

As soon as they entered the library they retrieved the books they needed and began to read through the endless pages of information.

'Ugh, every book I've read says the same damn thing. We need a massive amount of human lives in order to create it but there has to be another way, there just has to be, ' Ed closed another book after being led to the same dead end just like all the other times.

He rolled the ladder down the aisle of books and stopped at a particular section. He began climbing the ladder and started searching for one specific book, "Where is it? Where could it be? " , he asked aloud not really expecting an answer.

"There it is! ", he exclaimed after he found what he was looking for.

He grabbed the book, sat at the very top of the ladder and began to read through more endless material regarding the philosopher's stone, 'Mysteries and rumors behind the philosopher's stone…' , he read the title to himself , 'I'm pretty sure there's something in here that'll help me out.'

Twenty minutes passed and all hope of finding a loop hole began to fade, 'this can't be, there has got to be more than this. Maybe I missed something, ' Ed and Al were concentrating so hard that they didn't even realize they were being watched for the last ten minutes.

"Yo Ed, Al uh…what's up" , startled by the voice they turned their attention towards the person who disrupted their peaceful environment.

"Oh, hello Mr. Nakajima" ,Al greeted.

"Please Al, call me Sousuke, Mr. Nakajima makes me feel old" , Sousuke smiled and looked up at where Ed was at.

"Reading" , Ed replied and buried his face back into his book, "What do you want? "

"Well since you and I are partners now I figured we should get to know each other. Oh and you too Al" , Sousuke leaned against the book shelf and stuffed his hands into his pockets making him look like a regular civilian rather than an officer of the military.

"Me too? " Al asked pointing to himself.

"Yeah, since I'm going to be Ed's partner that'll technically make me your partner as well since you always accompany your brother on his missions. "

"That's true, but I'm not a state alchemist though and I'm not part of the military either, " Al tried to explain that treating him like a partner isn't really necessary.

"What's your point? " , Sousuke replied still leaning against the book shelf, "Military or not, I still consider you a partner as well. If you're the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother then your alchemy must be powerful as well. "

"Well, I don't know about that, " Al rubbed the back of his head embarrassed that someone called him powerful.

Sousuke smiled at his modest behavior, "You're too modest, you should take the compliment and be proud of your abilities, I know I would. "

"Well I don't really consider myself powerful- "

" -Being too modest can also be considered rude you know" ,Sousuke interrupted him and looked him dead in the eye.

"Um…" Al was shocked and also a little afraid that he might have insulted him without even knowing it.

"Hahaha! Relax I'm just kidding. I'm not like one of those high and mighty people who take everything too seriously, infact, if you ask anyone around here they'd say I'm pretty laid back. Hell, Riza says I'm a little too laid back for my own good, although I'm not too sure what she meant by that" , he mumbled that last part to himself.

"So…" Sousuke began, "let's get started shall we? "

"Um, what do you want to know? " , Al asked while Ed continued to ignore them and read his book.

"What about your ages, how about you start off Ed? " , Ed didn't bother to answer since he knew Al would answer for him.

Just like he predicted, Al began to answer the question for the both of them, "Well I'm fourteen and Ed is fifteen, sorry about Ed, he doesn't warm up to people too quickly.

"No problem" , Sousuke shrugged his shoulders and shook it off.

"What about you? "

"Me? I'm twenty years old and before Ed came along I was considered the youngest state alchemist in the military" , Ed raised his head from the book he was reading when he heard this and looked down at Sousuke.

"You were once considered the youngest state alchemist around, how long have you been a part of the military? " , by now Ed had joined in on the conversation.

"Nice of you to join us Ed, anyway, I've been in the military for six years. "

"If you've been in the military for six years then you joined at around fourteen, right? " , Ed asked after putting two and two together.

"Joined hehe…right" , Sousuke chuckled at the word 'joined' causing Ed and Al to stare at him questioningly.

"What's so funny? " , Ed looked at him while Al tilted his head to the side.

"You say 'joined' like I really had a choice in the matter" , Sousuke's voice was empty of emotions but held a tiny a bit of hate and anger.

"Well then, how did you become a state alchemist if you didn't join of your own free will? " , Ed continued his interrogation.

He wanted to know how Sousuke became a dog of the military even though he didn't join willingly. Everyone he knew in the military ranging from Mustang down to Ross joined willingly, they all wanted to make a difference while others were in it for the money. What did Havoc say to him before? To serve your country, to protect it's people and to get a fat paycheck in the end, you couldn't ask for a better job. Also women love a man in uniform. Ed shook his head when he remembered what Havoc said, he could even see him standing there right now with that cigarette in his mouth, dangling, as he recited those exact words with a smile on his face.

'Wait, six years ago? There was fighting all over the borders of Amestris and in Ishbal as well, so if he didn't sign up and join then could he have been…' "Recruited? Were you recruited in a draft or something? " Ed asked him.

Sousuke sighed before he answered, "In a way, forcefully recruited is more like it. "

"Forcefully? " Ed and Al asked in unison.

Sousuke smiled but his current smile was different from the one he had on before, it was almost reminiscent but held no trace of happiness.

"Let's just say I picked a fight with the wrong person and got myself recruited because of it. But, for now, that's all I'll say on it, maybe I'll tell you more one day or maybe I won't, it'll depend on how I feel" , he wanted to change subjects so he wouldn't have to get into the details of who he fought and why, so he thought of something else to talk about.

"Alright, since you already know my answer for this next question I won't have to answer it, why did you two join the military? " , at this question Ed and Al went silent.

"Uh, did I say something wrong? " ,Sousuke was confused when this happened, he didn't know if he insulted them or if he brought up painful memories.

"Mr. Na- I mean Sousuke, the reason we joined the military was because of our mother- "

"Al" , Ed cut him off.

"Yes brother" , Al looked in Ed's direction.

"There's a book on the philosopher's stone I've been meaning to read but I can't find it, I think it's at the other side of the library, can you find it for me? " ,Ed asked with a smile on his face.

"Sure brother" , Al got up and left to go find the book Ed wanted.

"Hey Ed, I didn't say anything wrong, did I? Because if I did- "

"-No, it's just…it's a long story" , Sousuke was interrupted by Ed's answer.

"Well Ed, I'm your partner now, I've got an ear if you've got a voice" , Sousuke found another one of those rolling ladders and set it beside the ladder Ed was on. He then began to climb the ladder until he got to the very top and sat beside Ed.

"So Ed" , he began, "let's hear it. "

He took a deep breath and exhaled before beginning his story, "You see, our mother passed away when we were just kids and our lives have never been the same since. Before that our father left when we were really young, we were too young to remember much about him but Al doesn't like to think he abandoned us, I on the other hand do. Some years after our father left we began to learn alchemy from the books in his room, you know, basic stuff like how to create dolls and other novice things like that, we never saw a reason to use it any other way so we never did. "

Sousuke nodded his head as he listened to his story.

"Well, after a while of learning from those books our friend, Winry, lost her parents in the Ishbal War. From what I heard they were executed by the military, apparently as traitors, at least that's what people kept saying" , Sousuke flinched at the Rockbell name but it went unnoticed by Ed since he had his head lowered during the story.

"When that happened, me and Al were shocked but we couldn't fully grasp the fact of someone close to us dying, that is, until Al asked what would we do if our mom died. Little did we know that we didn't have long to figure out an answer to that question because one day when we were coming home from picking vegetables we found our mom on the floor, unconscious. We stayed by here side to the very end, right until her very last breath.

While she was on her death bed we sent letters to every place our father ever sent us mail from and told him about her condition, but the coward never came, he never even wrote back. After she died we began searching for a teacher, someone who would help us get stronger and after a short while of searching we found her and learned as much as we could. After we completed our training we returned home and attempted to bring our mother back using- "

" -Human Transmutation" , Sousuke completed for him. His face showed horror, fear but admiration at the same time.

"Yeah" , Ed smiled an empty smile and continued the story, "Everything was going fine until our attempt back fired, I lost my left leg while Al lost his entire body. "

"Wait. What about your arm, and how did Al get trapped in the armor? " , Sousuke asked.

" I sealed Al to the armor using an anchoring seal written out in my own blood and in order to bring Al's soul back I sacrificed my right arm and offered it as an equivalent exchange. "

'My god. These two kids have gone through so much" , Sousuke held a deep respect for Ed after he heard his story and put his hand on his left shoulder in a comforting way.

Ed raised his head and looked at him, "Listen Ed, " Sousuke looked back at him, "I'm not going to sit here and say I'm sorry but I will tell you that I hold a deep respect for someone who's gone through something like you two have and still have the courage to tell a complete stranger, like me, what happened. "

Ed continued to look at Sousuke as he spoke again, "You know, I'm surprised you two survived. Even though human alchemy is a forbidden science I knew some people in Xing who tried it and only one person survived, he was trapped in armor just like Al but he killed himself two weeks afterwards. He always talked about the gate and how he saw it. "

Ed's eyes widened when he heard that, "…the gate…I've seen it. "

Sousuke looked at him, "I've seen it Sousuke, that's how I sacrificed my arm to bring Al back. There was darkness and then a bright light, there was also this shadowy figure- "

" -That's enough Ed! " , Sousuke said sternly.

" What? Why? " , Ed was confused at his outburst.

"What you told me about the gate, I never want you to ever repeat it to anyone ever again, not even your brother. "

"Why? And how can you be so sure I never told Al? "

"Because Ed, when you told me, you looked to see if your brother was around. But seriously, never repeat what you just said because if the wrong person ever finds out then the higher ups in the military will hold you and your brother captive. They'll interrogate both of you until they're satisfied you told them everything you know and afterwards they'll have scientists 'examine' Al, it won't be pretty" , Sousuke put his hand on Ed's head and ruffled his hair affectionately, "besides, I've got to protect my partner, right? "

"Hey, quit it! " Ed yelled out and pushed Sousuke's hand away from his head.

"Well, I've got to get going. I'm supposed to meet Roy and Armstrong at a Café for lunch in about twenty minutes" , Sousuke slid down the ladder and landed on the floor. He avoided the stacks of books that were cluttered around the floor and made his way towards the door but was stopped by Ed's voice.

"Why are you meeting Mustang and Armstrong at a Café? " , Ed asked, " you going to eat lunch with them or something? "

Sousuke turned around and nodded his head, "Yep, I didn't eat lunch or breakfast, and I kind of skipped dinner last night too, " at that he threw his hands behind his head and smiled, "if my wife knew this she'd give me hell, no doubt about it. "

"Wait, you're married? " Ed looked shocked at the news, 'But he's only twenty, why did he marry at such a young age? '

"I sure am, I'm married to the most beautiful woman in the world! " Sousuke exclaimed. At that moment he thought of a wonderful idea and slammed his fist in his other hand the same way a judge would slam their gavel at the end of a case, "Hey, I just got a great idea! Why don't I introduce you to her? On our way to Resembool we could stop by the town I live in and pay her a visit, besides, I haven't seen her in a whole month so I should go home. "

Seeing the hopeful look in his eyes Ed gave in and agreed to stop by his town and see his wife, "Yeah sure. "

"That's great! And tomorrow we'll hang out Ed, you, me and your brother, but you better be up early or I'll wake you up" , Sousuke laughed and walked out of the library when Al finally came back with the book Ed asked him to find.

"Brother" , Al looked up at Ed, " here's the book you wanted."

"Thanks Al" , Ed reached down and grabbed the book from his brother.

"Ed, where Sousuke go? " Al asked.

"He went out to have lunch with Mustang and Armstrong" , Ed replied casually.

"Oh." Al stared at the library doors that Sousuke walked out of , "He seems nice, right brother? "

"Yeah, but he's a little weird and he's hiding something too, I don't know what but I'll find out. " Ed told him while he skimmed through the book, "Oh and by the way, he said that the three of us are going to hang out tomorrow, I guess that means we'll have to blow off researching the philosopher's stone for another day. "

Al nodded his head and sat down as both Ed and Al prepared themselves for another long night at the library.


End file.
